The 2015 World Blitz Chess Championship is taking place from October 9-15, at the Bolle Meierei, in Berlin, Germany. The event is organized by FIDE in collaboration with AGON – the World’s Chess Federation’s commercial partner, in a 21-round Swiss format, with a single game for each round. Tournament website/ Standings and statistics Follow 3rd Sinquefield Cup 2015 [...]

The 2015 World Rapid Chess Championship is taking place from October 9-15, at the Bolle Meierei, in Berlin, Germany. The event is organized by FIDE in collaboration with AGON – the World’s Chess Federation’s commercial partner, in a 15-round Swiss format, with a single game for each round. Tournament website/ Standings and statistics Follow 3rd Sinquefield Cup [...]

Today’s challenge is to find the typical pattern from the position below with Steinitz to move: Reiner against Steinitz in 1860 Q: White’s Queenside pieces are still taking a rest, so therefore Black has an advantage. Can you prove it? (Hint – You just need to empower your rooks on the g-file.) A: The pattern […]

The Korinthia Chess Academy “Argonaftis” organized the 5th International Tournament Isthmia 2015 on 18-25th August at the Poseidon Resort Hotel in Loutraki, Korinthia, Greece. The main Open A for players rated over 1900 FIDE gathered 50 participants. GM Nazar Firman from Ukraine took a clear first place with 7,0/9 points to claim the top prize [...]

The 22nd Abu Dhabi Chess Festival is taking place from August 23-31, in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Festival consists of the Masters, Open, Juniors, Blitz, Family and Homeland Protectors tournaments. The main event is the 9-round Swiss Masters, open for players rated 2000 Elo or above. 147 players from 35 different countries, including 57 Grandmasters, [...]

The Royal Moroccan Chess Federation has the honor to organize the 1st Arab Chess Olympiad Championships from October 1 to October 21, 2015, in the city of Agadir, Morocco. The event will be held under the auspices of FIDE and the Arab Chess Federation (ACF) and will be split into the following groups: - Arab [...]

Age 72, still plays chess. Recently I was diagnosed with HepC, or should I say after 50 years of the thing I was re-diagnosed and began a new form of treatment – the side effects of this wonder drug ( cocktail) are mild compared to the previous treatment for it – but still has its […]

The 14th Annual Manhattan Open was held from August 21-23, 2015, at the Hotel Pennsylvania, 401 Seventh Ave. (32nd-33rd St, across from Penn Station), New York, NY. The event had 6 sections: Open, Under 2200, Under 1900, Under 1600, Under 1300 and Under 1000. The tournament format was 5-round Swiss, 40/110, SD/30, d10. The main [...]

The World U-16 Youth Chess Olympiad in Ulaanbaatar is organized by the Mongolian Chess Federation (MCF) from 19th August (Arrival) to 29th August (Departure), 2015, at the  Chinggis Hotel, in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. The tournament is a 10-round Swiss team championship, conducted under the auspices of FIDE. Each team consists of 4 players, the time control is 90′/ [...]

Drama in round 3 as an engine loses on time

The 19th Vienna Chess Open was held from 15-23rd August, 2015, at the Wiener Rathaus in Vienna, Austria. The event was organized by the Wiener Schachverband and has attracted over 800 chess players accross four sections. The main Open A had 459 players from 43 countries, including 21 Grandmasters and 39 International Masters. Five players [...]

This checkmate occurs when the King is surrounded by his own pieces and so cannot move. If it can then be checked, the blocked in King is liable to be checkmated. Here is an interesting example of smothered mate. But there is a twist. First of all, you have to get the White King out […]

Η Σκακιστική Ακαδημία Πύργου διοργανώνει το Ατομικό – Διασυλλογικό Rapid ΕΥ ΑΓΩΝΙΖΕΣΘΑΙ 2015, την Κυριακή 30/8/2015 στο Καφέ ΚΑΣΤΡΟ στον Αγ. Ανδρέα Κατακόλου. Ώρα έναρξης 10:45.

The Americas’ Chess Confederation is going to organize an Internet based FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar, from 1 to 6 December 2015, under the auspices of FIDE. The Lecturer will be IA Jorge Vega Fernandez (GUA), President of ACC and FIDE Lecturer and Assistant Lecturer will be IA Santiago Garcia Ramos (MEX), FIDE Lecturer. The Technical Organizer [...]

The 17th International Open of Sants, Hostafrancs & La Bordeta is taking place from August 21-30, in Sants, Barcelona. The event is a 10-round Swiss tournament with first prize in the amount of 2,500 EUR. Top seed is Peruvian GM Jorge Cori (2635). Tournament website/ Standings and statistics Starting August 21st, Season 8 of the Top [...]